


Unstable

by lonelygirlyouaremyworld



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Anxiety Disorder, Depression, Hypnotism, M/M, Nightmare Disorder, Nightmares, Suicide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2015-01-27
Packaged: 2018-03-09 08:56:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3243764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelygirlyouaremyworld/pseuds/lonelygirlyouaremyworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan is suffering from Nightmare Disorder, and having severe problems with his depression. Phil looks up ways to help him, and finds hypnotism.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unstable

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is my first time actually posting a fanfic...ever. So please please please constructive criticism is welcome!
> 
> I went ahead and rated this as Explicit because there'll be smut in eventual chapters ;)

_He could feel all of the thoughts creeping into his mind like tiny little spiders. Why keep bearing through these dull days that were exactly the same as the last? How did he manage to put on that fake smile every time he interacted with people? His life was fake, useless, and_ _repetitive. What happens when he becomes too old for Youtube? What if he just begins to not enjoy it anymore?_

_Dan opened his eyes to see the blank nothingness that was his subconscious. It was a dark, black hole that was situated above his bed as he lay in it. It began swirling, twisting and making an awful vacuum sound as it began sucking everything towards it. Papers that were on his nightstand began to be drawn in, sinking so far into the black hole that they looked like small white dots. Then went all his books, his video games, his laptop, his camera, pictures of him and his friends and family. Soon it was only Dan and his bed. He was now hyperventilating as the wind in his room began to lift the white and black comforter off his bed. His fingers clawed at the headboard of his bed but the power of the black hole was too strong. He was lifted up into the air, leaving his room, and twisting into the never-ending tunnel._

"NO!!"

Phil woke with a start, knowing exactly what was happening. When he wasn't up at 5 o'clock in the morning, pacing about his room, Dan often had horrible nightmares that left him shaken for days. Phil usually had to go into his room and wake him before it got too bad.

The only difference from usual, was that this was the third time this week that Dan had woken Phil up with his shouting. Dan's horrific nightmares normally occurred maybe once or twice a month, but lately they were happening more often. The thing that bugged Phil the most is that Dan wouldn't even tell him about these dreams. He tried to brush it off like nothing happened, but Phil could see in his eyes that he was disturbed from what he had just seen. Dan refused to go to any doctors or therapy and insisted that he was "just having a existential crisis, Phil, like always." 

Phil put on his glasses and bathrobe, making his way toward the yelling and groaning in the room next to him. He remembered the first time he had to wake up Dan. It was within the first month they had moved in together. Phil had shot out of bed, ran to Dan's room in his boxers, thinking he was being attacked, or robbed, or having a medical emergency, or something...but he had just found a sweaty Dan twisted in his sheets and screaming in his sleep. 

This time was different.

Opening the door, to Phil's horror, Dan was on the floor next to his bed. He was clawing at the gray carpet as if something were dragging him by his feet, as he shrieked in pure terror. 

Phil, in a panic since this was something new, dropped to his knees and put a hand on his friend's back. Usually Dan came to his senses quickly and calmly when Phil arrived but tonight, as previously determined, was unlike the others. Dan let out an unnatural yell as if Phil's hand was blisteringly hot. Snatching his hand away, Phil backed up a bit. Terrified, he watched his flatmate writhe on the ground as if possessed by some evil spirit. For once, Phil wasn't sure how to handle this. 

"...Dan?" he whispered, worry and concern forming from the one syllable.

To his relief, the boy on the ground ceased screaming at the top of his lungs, but he was now muttering under his breath. 

"No no no no...no...not me...where am-?...why?...stop...please...no..no...nonononononononono..."

Phil's heart resumed beating. He tried whispering again-

"Dan? It's okay. It's Phil. Wake up, you're fine."

Dan stopped muttering and seemed to stop squirming as well. When Phil hesitantly placed his hand on him again, he didn't flinch. The boy's eyelid's fluttered as he slowly regained consciousness. 

"...Phil?..why-" his voice was scratchy and week. He coughed. "Phil, why am I on the ground? What happened?"

Phil rubbed his eyes from under his glasses. Things were back to normal, and he was beginning to relax. Amnesia was part of Dan's usual nightmare routine. With a shaking hand, he helped Dan off the floor and back in to his bed. He fell asleep almost instantly as his head hit the pillow. 

Phil let out a sigh and sat down on Dan's bed, doing his best not to wake him. He wasn't sure he could walk, his legs were shaking too hard. He also wasn't sure which of the two boys had had a more traumatic experience. Phil could't get the image of his friend screaming and thrashing about on the floor out of his head. He wondered about the state of Dan's fingers and if they were bleeding due to his extensive clawing at the carpet. He shivered. This had gone too far. Dan needed help. Phil knew something had to be done, but he didn't know what. If Dan wouldn't even admit to having a problem, then what could he do? 

Looking at the clock on Dan's nightstand, he realized it was 4 in the morning. No real use going back to sleep now. He carefully stood up and walked back to his room. Grabbing his laptop, he  scooted back under his covers and opened up Google.

Phil typed- " _reoccurring nightmares severe"_ in the search box.

The first thing that popped up was a Wikipedia page for "Nightmare Disorder." Reading through the symptoms, he realized many of them applied to Dan, such as screaming and yelling, increased heart rate, sweating, trouble with everyday tasks due to anxiety and lack of sleep...

Scrolling down further, he read that the causes could be extreme pressure, and other mood disorders such as depression. 

Did Dan have depression? He certainly met all the standards. Phil felt uneasy.

The last paragraph on the Wikipedia page was called, "Recent Research on Nightmare Disorder" it read-

  * Borderline Personality Disorder with Nightmare Disorder is very common, since the stages of sleep vary from that of a normal person (i.e. increased stage one sleep, and less stage four sleep). People with Borderline Personality disorder and Nightmare Disorder are usually the severest of those who have Borderline Personality Disorder; therefore, treating those with Nightmare Disorder may also help some with Borderline Personality Disorder.


  * Hypnosis seems to be a new and effective treatment for those with Nightmare Disorder, since it increases relaxation.



Now that got Phil interested. What an adventure that would be, taking Dan to a hypnotist. Or even better, learning how to hypnotize Dan himself. 

Oh yes, Phil was now excited. He spent the rest of the early morning, and the next few days learning all about hypnosis. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 Throughout the week, Dan was progressively getting worse and worse. He rarely left his room, barley ate a thing, and to Phil's great displeasure, almost never talked to his best friend. 

Phil could argue that he, himself wasn't giving that much of an effort to make conversation with Dan, but that's because he was busy. Phil spent all of the last few days researching hypnosis techniques, watching videos, and reading online books. He proudly considered himself a expert, though deep down he knew he wasn't.

Phil had been hypnotized once before, when he was 18. His parents had taken him out to a magic show and he was picked out of the massive audience, along with 9 other people to come up on the stage. They had all stood in a line facing the audience, and the magician had asked for complete silence. Phil remembered being brought further and further down into his subconscious, until he was only focused on the magician's voice, and did all of the ridiculous things he said for the enjoyment of the audience. He clucked like a chicken and acted like he was playing the violin when he was told, but it was strange since he would have never done that in front of a huge crowd, ever. He now really understood the power of hypnosis.

 Dan was sitting in the chair by his desk, staring at his computer. He really should be editing his video, but he'd rather procrastinate. Instead he thought about how big the universe was and how small our solar system was, and how small earth was, and how small Dan was. Did his life even matter in this huge world? What change had he made as a human on planet earth? If he never existed would there be that much of a difference?

Before he could finish his thought, Phil busted in his door. 

"Phil! I always tell you to knock and you never do! What if I was naked or something?!"

Dan was clearly in a pissy mood. Phil was positive he hadn't eaten a thing all day, showered, or bothered to sort out his hair.

"Sorry...it's just that I have an idea...but you have to be really open about it."

"We're not playing Minecraft as a series on our gaming channel, we already went over this," said Dan, still annoyed.

"No..." Phil let out a nervous laugh, "Actually, it's about your Nightmare Disorder."

Dan straightened his back and opened his eyes wide. He didn't know that Phil even knew his condition was called that. They rarely ever talked about this.

"Er...what about it, then?" Dan twisted back in his seat and turned his monitor back on, pretending like he was busy with editing.

 So Dan did know that he had this disorder. Had he been diagnosed by a doctor? Has he had it since he was a child? Questions for later, Phil thought.

"I've been looking on the internet, and there are actually some interesting forms of...treatment..." Phil said nervously, looking down at his feet, even though Dan wasn't facing him.

"Pills don't work, tried them all," said Dan, monotone.

"No, actually, recent studies have shown that hypnotism is effective to people with your disorder." Phil said the last bit quickly, like ripping off a bandage. He looked up at Dan in his pajamas and disheveled hair, bracing himself for the worst.

Dan turned around in his chair and looked at Phil incredulously. 

"If you _think_ that I'm going with you to some _quack,_ so he can hypnotize me out of having-"

"No! I would do it!" interrupted Phil, defensively. "I've looked it up on the internet for the past 3 days and I think we could give it a go, see what happens...?"

Dan could see that Phil was serious about this. 

"Phil, I really don't think this is the best-"

Phil cut off his sentence again.

"Dan, you've woken me up three times in the past week with you're nightmares. You know that's unusual. And you know this effects me too, right?! Do you know what you look like when I have to wake you up, screaming and writhing around on the ground like you're possessed? It's terrifying and traumatizing and it makes me insanely worried for you! What scares me the most though, is that you won't even talk to me about it. You act like nothing's even happened, yet it happens so often recently! If you won't go to a doctor, and you say that medication hasn't worked, I don't know why you won't consider this one thing."

Dan was speechless. Phil never yelled like that. His northern accent was more prominent than usual, which Dan had always seen as endearing, but now seemed a little bit threatening.

Phil spoke again- "Please, Dan. I'm just really concerned about you."

"Oh, what the fuck...fine."

 

 


End file.
